Livid citizen writes to CJ Maraga, threatens to take action against him for violating Constitution

-Mogire Mogaka gave Maraga until Monday, September, 10, to swear in four JSC commissioners

-He said the CJ was openly flouting the Constitution and seemed to have a personal ulterior motive

-His protests against the CJ would be forwarded to the Commission on Administration of Justice, EACC and Parliament for action

Chief Justice David Maraga has been given a four-days ultimatum to swear in four commissioners to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), failure to which he risks being reported to relevant oversight authorities for disciplinary action.

In a terse letter officially received by Maraga's office on Thursday, September 6, Mogire Mogaka was concerned over the protracted failure to swear in Olive Mugenda, Felix Koskei, Patrick Gichohi and Attorney General Paul Kihara Kariuki to the JSC.

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The angry Kenyan said failure to swear them was in contravention of Section 40 of the Judicial Service Act as well as Chapter Six and Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya.

He expressed concern the JSC was operating with the minimum quorum of six commissioners as a result of Maraga’s inaction and warned matters could soon get out of hand.

“This is more surprising given that there is real danger of paralysis of JSC due to lack of quorum that may be brought about if the Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu is charged with criminal offences and is therefore ineligible to sit at the JSC. This situation can be forestalled by the swearing in of the aforementioned,” said Mogaka.

Mugenda who is the former Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor, Koskei (ex-Cabinet Secretary) and Gichohi (former National Assembly clerk), were all approved by Parliament in February 2018 and their appointment gazetted.

Kihara was to take over automatically from his predecessor, Githu Muigai, in the commission but Maraga declined to swear them in, essentially locking the Public Service Commission, the Government’s chief legal advisor and the general public out of the commission.

Attorney General Paul Kihara was to take over automatically from his predecessor, Githu Muigai, in the commission but Maraga has obstinately refused to swear them in. Photo: UGCSource: UGC

“From the foregoing, it seems that there is a personal ulterior motive that prevents you from swearing in the four commissioners. Essentially, you are usurping the powers donated by the Constitution to various bodies; the President who appoints, Parliament which vets, the Judiciary which interprets, the law and the Public whom they represent,” Mogaka argues.

The citizen called on Maraga to swear in the four by close of business on Monday, September 10, 2018, failure to which he would submit written complaints to the Commission on Administration of Justice and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for appropriate action against the CJ.

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